


Kage Becomes a Hero

by TheJigIsUp



Category: inFAMOUS (Video Games), inFAMOUS: Second Son
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2019-02-11 07:12:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12930165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheJigIsUp/pseuds/TheJigIsUp
Summary: Follow the Conduit, Tobias Daniels, as he regains his lost values of becoming a hero and stops being just a really shitty guy. (Eventual/Slow-burn Eugene x OC)





	1. Tobias Meets Cole (Sorta)

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my recent writing project which I hope I'll have motivation to put a lot of effort into! I feel like even though this /is/ the first chapter it's somewhat short? The rest may go on a bit longer who knows?

Compared to him, the man was tall. Not much hair on his head, face beaded with sweat, made Tobias Daniels question why that man had decided to wear a jacket that day and why he had it zipped up pretty much to his neck. Though, Tobias didn’t really know how the weather was in Empire City this time of year, he’d never been, and it’s not like he could just reach through the TV to find out. Instead he continued to admire the man USTV had been talking about for the past half hour.

The twelve year old was at least somewhat acquainted with what had been going on in Empire City, a bit more northeast from where he, his mother, and, previously, his father, lived. Though Tobias knew this was all very real and dangerous, part of it felt very, surreal? How could anything in this world possibly cause this much destruction, then a whole new plague on top of that? And now even superheroes?

If his dad was still around, he’d be beyond furious that Tobias would dare still believe in such things, but the only thing young Tobi had to worry about now was being told not to sit directly in front of the television, but could she blame him? The very impressionable redhead was being told by a news anchor (who usually knew what they were talking about, Tobias had noted to himself) that superheroes were indeed real.

As the young boy’s grin began to widen at this new discovery, he jumped as a hand touched his shoulder and almost yelped as the worst thing that could possibly happened happened.

“Tobi, sweetie, sit on the couch. You’ll strain your poor eyes,” said a soft, soothing voice that could make Tobias question why he had just been startled by the owner of said voice, his dear mother.

“Yes, ma,” Tobias obliged and made his way back to the sofa. A part of him still wanted to be closer to this superhuman miracle, even if it was through the television, but not disappointing his mother outweighed that.

Just as Tobi’s mother seemed like she was going to leave the room to do whatever Tobias thought moms did, she did a double take, in awe that her not yet teenage son was watching... The news? She squinted towards the TV before sitting down next to her son as she began voicing her concern.

“Cartoons too boring for you, Tobe?” his mother teased, trying not to express her actual worry. Why was she even worried in the first place? Her son is simply growing up. Sure, most kids his age don’t find much interest in the news, and she did assume he’d have some fascination with sitcoms first, but maybe this was Tobias’ way of growing up. Maybe this is Tobias trying to become the new man of the house, trying to fill that role. Tobi’s mom hushed her stupid paranoia just in time to hear her son’s response.

“This is better than cartoons, ma. Listen!”

Continuing being shocked by her son’s sudden interest in current event, she obliged, listening very intently to what the unrealistically beautiful, blonde, anchor woman was reporting to her and her boy.

“...many residence of Empire City seeing this Electric Man as their saviour. He not only helped feed hundreds of people, but is managing to heal the wounded with a single touch. It has been said that citizens began plastering their buildings with posters of his face, dubbing him, Cole MacGrath, their symbol of hope in these devastating times”.

Without realizing it, Tobias had brought his knees to his chest, holding them tight and beginning to tear up. Tobias, though young, tried to remind himself that there were evils in the world. That those who were blessed with much power sometimes took advantage of them and hurt those below them. But the Electric Man, Cole Macgrath, had used his powers to protect those who needed him. God had blessed such a selfless man, a man that Tobias couldn’t help but admire. Tobi’s mom noticed that.

After getting over her initial shock, she turned to her son and never had she seen so much love and admiration in a young boy’s eyes. Never had she seen that look in his eyes. She had to admit, she had many worries and fears when her husband left her. How will they manage financially? How would she be without that emotional support she had initially received as his spouse? How would Tobias grow up without a male figure to possibly guide him? But it’s like as soon as she saw Tobias stare at that screen, that specific fear could not longer touch her, because Cole had not only become a symbol of hope to the residence of Empire City, but to her as well.

_Thank you, Electric Man._

* * *

Feeling hope that night two months ago now seemed stupid and childish. No amount of worshipping some superfreak in another town could save Tobias now. She was told that not even all the money in the world could hire a doctor who could heal her dear Tobias, because that simply didn’t exist. In other words, she was told to just sit back and accept that Tobias was as good as dead. Never in her life did she think her son would even have one foot in the grave before she was safe with God. Though, what kind of solace could she even find with a god who had done this to her beloved son? Certainly not the God she had loved.

Her days mostly consisted of visiting Tobias in his room when he was awake, making sure he was well fed and read him his favourite books to keep him well entertained. While he slept, Tobi’s mother found herself immediately evacuating the room, unable to look at his resting body, afraid that she may have to witness him pass in his sleep, and she cried. Some days she made it down to the kitchen table. Other days she’d barely be able to stumble through the doorway and lean against the opposite wall before covering her face with her hands and sob.

There were days his mother hated herself. Tobias would mention him, the Electric Man, through many coughs. At first she kept her annoyance hidden, ignoring her son and would read aloud to avoid the topic from escalating, but as he kept pestering her, she eventually snapped. Not remembering the last time she had ever raised her voice at Tobi, she was shocked at her own response. Without another word she left the room, left Tobias to do nothing but roll over and cry himself to sleep.

His mother had no idea why the mention of Cole had hit such a sore spot. She felt absolutely foolish for being so touchy about a man she had never met in her life. A man who had absolutely no idea she existed. Maybe she blamed him for her grief, though part of her knew that was insane. It’s not like the man had snuck into their home and poisoned her child. Maybe she wanted to put him on trial accuse him of delivering false hope, but was it MacGrath who should be held accountable, or her? This gave her a headache. She needed sleep.

Tobias never received an apology and he never would. His mother’s mind wandered to dangerous places. _Why would he need an apology? That boy’s as good as dead._ She no longer had the effort to fight these thoughts. She just performed her daily tasks of caring for Tobias, which became quieter between the two, not solely for the amount of sleep the sick Tobias desired, but the bond between mother and son was rusting. It was like the two both saw it, but accepted it, saying nothing.

One night, Tobi’s mother finally received the karma she brought upon herself. God had heard her curses and had finally responded. Before bed, as usual, she turned on the television as white noise before sleeping for the night. The newscaster, who was now two months older since that hopeful night Tobias had shared with his mom, now delivered God’s message to the mother of a dying child. A catastrophe that had swallowed up everything Empire City had once been and was on the move had changed its previous course along the shoreline, now heading southwest. No tears fell from her face, her tear ducts had been dry for almost a week now. That night, she turned off the TV and drifted off to sleep in total darkness.


	2. Delsin Meets Tobias

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang explores the string of "suicides" and found out the connection they have to the DUP.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS FINALLY HERE. enjoy!

This was the first time the gang was all in the same room together, in Eugene’s dominion (as He Who Dwells would put it). He had recently been asked to research the recent suicides in Seattle for Delsin. Suicides? No. Murders. All four of them were sure they were murders. The whole reason Delsin had asked Eugene to look into them was because he had this feeling that they were connected to the fourth escaped Conduit from the crash.

The day all four of them were loaded into the truck was the very first time he had met… what was his name? Tobias? Being locked up and secluded even from other Conduits during his time in Curdun Cay, Eugene didn’t know much about others like him. When he first met Tobias, he didn’t even know what kind of power he possessed. Eugene remembered that for a moment, his curiosity got the best of him and he looked up at the red head only to find that Tobias was already doing the same, locking eyes with him. He distinctly remembers that chill running up his spine, promising himself to never focus on Tobias Daniels ever again.

Then the crash. Eugene was so dizzy and disoriented from the crash, he had to be helped up by Fetch before she began ahead of him towards Seattle. In front of them both was a trail of what seemed like black ribbon, but he was sure if he had stuck out his hand it would have phased right through. His eyes wandered once again to where there trail of darkness led, and he did what he thought he would dare not do for a second time. The shadow Conduit, that had managed to remove his anti-Conduit cuffs at an alarming rate, was balancing on a tree branch and had took a moment to look back at Eugene and Fetch. Eye contact between the blond and redhead was made once again, and Eugene swore he saw Tobias’ features flushed with a mix of fear and confusion before they became more cold.

“You guys, better not follow me! Leave me  _ alone _ , or I’ll k-kill you,” were the first words Eugene ever heard Tobias speak. 

His voice so stern and desiring to sound threatening, but it’s like he didn’t have it in him. The voice that had originally came out harsh had almost turned into a whine as he approached the word “alone”. With that, Tobias vanished, leaving trails of dark tendrils wrapped around the tree branch. 

Despite all three of them heading towards Seattle, Eugene never saw Fetch or Tobias again after that, at least up until recently, thanks to Banner Man here. If it hadn’t been for Delsin, Eugene would’ve still been cooped up in his underground base. Yeah, he was still in that base at this very moment, but he’d never imagined he’d be so ok with having company here and it felt so… normal? Though, it’s not like this was so sort of party. Everyone was only here to discuss one thing; the whereabouts of Tobias Daniels.

Eugene had managed to dig up more info on these so called “suicides”. First of all, he found out that the reason these cases were all labeled as suicides was because police failed to find any handprints or DNA at all as a matter of fact to link these to a possible suspect. Second, he found out the DUP was keeping its eye on these many cases, agents doing some investigations of the crime scenes themselves. It was one thing to have Delsin spew his theory that Tobias was somehow involved, but the fact that Augustine and her lap dogs were following this trail as well couldn’t just simply be coincidence. 

Hours of research led Eugene to some type of forum page. It was those types of forums that he’d usually not find himself on due to the high amounts of racist and homophobic comments. But this was an emergency. 

Before Eugene could further look into the multiple threads recommended to him on his screen, he jumped the instant he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Taking a break, are we?” asked a voice that belonged to Delsin Rowe. 

Before Eugene could kindly correct the beanie wearing vandal, said vandal’s older brother had already chimed in.

“You’re slacking off?” the cop asked, getting up from his sit to now take a look at the screen.

“No, that's not-” and again Eugene’s attempts at explaining his progress were useless.

“Whoa, why're you on  _ that _ site. Ya didn’t seem like the type of person,” Fetch added. 

“No, it’s a lead! So far, my research on Tobias led me here. I was just about to-”

“I dunno that seems like kind of a reach, dontcha think?” Fetch questioned, not even attempting at hiding the doubt in her voice.

“Wait check this out! Look!” exclaimed Delsin, pointing at the screen like a small child at a toy store showing his mom what toy he would really love to receive once his birthday rolls around.

The rest of the gang took a look at the thread titled “Nagging Parents? Unfair Boss? Shitty Ex? CLICK HERE!!!” and despite not having any of these problems at the moment, Eugene clicked the thread.  A page opened up with a description under the thread title and several replies from multiple forum users. Eugene noticed that next to the original post was an icon of an oni mask.  Upon further reading, Eugene took both that the poster was offering to meet with people to give them one on one “advice” on how to deal with, as they had worded it, toxic people. None of that really seemed to out of the ordinary until he skimmed through the replies.

“My frend recommend me to u!!! PLZ DM!!!!”

“hey dude emergency please don't be some scam :( I need help :(“

“hi I'd really appreciate your help get to me when you can xoxo”

At first glance, Eugene wouldn't really consider this to be out of the ordinary but how good could this advice  _ really _ be? Why did these replies seem so secretive and suspiciously vague. 

“Write a reply dude,” Delsin said, simultaneously interrupting Eugene's train of thought.

“Why me?”

“I dunno you're the one who's at the computer. Didn't think it'd be such a big deal man.”

Delsin was kind of right, Eugene thought. Why was it a big deal? Then memories of first hearing Tobias’ voice and how his first words to Eugene were that he was going to kill him if Tobias ever saw him again. At first, he would have theorized that maybe there was a chance Tobias was all talk. Until he saw all the murders he had committed. Ok, so that's why it's a big deal.

“He- he just,” Eugene started. “He's not someone I'd like to be face to face with again.”

“Don't worry about it then! I was planning to be the field man anyway,” Delsin reassured his friend as he patted his back.

That should've been a relief, but Eugene still felt a knot in his stomach. Something about that may have seemed cowardly? He sort of regretted backing out but at the same time, he wasn't really looking forward to meeting the red head again, so he dropped these thoughts for now.

“Well ok,” Eugene responded as he hit the reply button. “What should I type?”

 

* * *

 

The redhead had been restlessly pacing around Pioneer Square, waiting for his latest client. Something about the message he got made Tobias fill with anxiety. I mean who would ask to meet a total stranger, who just so happened to be a hitman, in the middle of the night? Something was going to happen tonight.

To anyone else, the life that Tobias Daniels led was far from boring, but once a person gets used to killing the same kind of scumbag over and over again, watching their bodies hang from the dark tendrils he produced before carefully replacing them with a well knotted noose gets quite repetitive and… boring.

The Oni Mask Tobias had always worn on duty was sitting on top of his head as he looked down at his phone screen, reading over his client’s message over and over again. He hoped that his paranoia was simply just getting the best of him and that nothing was wrong.

“Are you the guy?” a stranger called out and Tobias could feel his heart start to race. “I can see the mask… I think?”

Closing his phone and slipping the mask down to now fully cover his face, Tobias turned around to see who he assumed to be his latest reply. The most noticeable thing about this young looking man was definitely his bright red beanie, according to Tobias. If he were further ranking, the chain wrapped around this man’s right wrist would be a close second.

“A pleasure to meet you, Teen Angel,” Tobias began, addressing the man by his online alias. “I was told you were in need of assistance.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I am actually.” Through his mask, Tobias could see something like a smirk on this man’s face, which had only made him tense up more, though he tried not to show it. “You’d really be 'assisting’ me by coming with me. Preferably without a fight.”

Tobias couldn't tell whether his fear was blatantly obvious at this point. He was confused and scared, though not for his own safety. The man seemed tired of the silence that Tobias was giving him so he attempted to convince him further.

“It’s about Augustine, we need you to-”

“DUP!? You're with the D-DUP?” If the stutter wasn't enough, Tobias’ fear was very much expressed by how much he shook in front of this stranger. Curdun Cay was the last place he wanted to return to.

“Ok, wait hold up,” Red Beanie began, raising his hands in what Tobias thought may have been defense, though he didn't think about it for very long.

Before Red Beanie could open his mouth to further justify himself, Tobias had quickly bent down and rested his palms on the wooden pier. At first, Red Beanie seemed very visibly confused but then he spotted something moving in his prereferral. He had looked down at the ground to get a better look and noticed there was something moving in the lights casted by the pier. Moving towards him.

Before the stranger could figure out a way to react to this particular event, the black tendril phased out of the ground and wrapped itself around his leg. Somehow thinking he could just slip out, he attempted to make a break for it away from the pier which had only led him to fall on his face. 

Tobias raised back up and let has hand rest under another nearby lamp. He began conjuring up something akin to pitch black smoke in his hand. Shortly after he found himself satisfied with the size of the round mold. He wound up, preparing to strike the stranger but was shortly interrupted as he saw a bright neon light skid his arm, causing him to lose his shadow-made baseball. 

Tobias had lost his balance and had fallen on his knees. Upon checking where the neon bullet had hit him, he noticed a scratch on his arm right above his wrist that drew some blood. Infuriated while also still in shock from the surprise attack, Tobias looked above and spotted someone on the roof of one of the nearby shacks.

“That fucking  _ hurt _ !” Tobias exclaimed through gritted teeth before fully stepping into one of the lamp lights and quickly shot out more dark tendrils aimed right at the sniper.

Just before Tobias’ attack reached the mystery girl, she sprinted away and left a bright pinkish purpleish neon trail behind her.

_ I know that neon… fuck! _

Despite Tobias’ best effort, the girl from the crash had followed him. He didn't really want to kill her, at least not initially. He had warned her fairly ahead of time and she was the one who attacked him so he felt like they were on fair playing ground. After several failed attempts at trying to snipe the sniper, Tobias let out a frustrated groan that was probably unheard to anyone but him because of his mask. He looked down and examined his own shadow under the lamp light and once he confirmed that his whole silhouette was visible, he jumped in. Both the strangers seemed shocked with Tobias’ actions and sudden disappearance. They were even more shocked when Neon Girl had felt something tight wrapped around her. As she squirmed in her restrains, she looked down to where the black ribbon like tendril was coming from and saw the Oni mask wearing mischief, only his head to his hips sticking out from the ground.

“How did y-” Before the sniper could finish her sentence, the other end of the dark tendril had wound back, pulling her against a nearby lamp pole. 

Tobias walked close enough to notice that she had multiple piercing all the while admiring his work as he usually did. He watched her struggle in his trap a bit before speaking up.

“I told you to  _ stay away _ ,” he reminded her. “I told you I’d kill you.”

This time before Tobias could even conjure up more shadow, he was being shot at again. He turned to see that Red Beanie has escaped from his makeshift bear trap. Looking around his feet, Tobias noticed that the man had shot what looked like smoke balls around him, as if Red Beanie was purposely trying to miss in a sad attempt to seem threatening. At least that's what he had thought until the smoke  _ bombs  _ exploded in his face, causing him to go into a coughing fit.

“Haha gotcha,” Red Beanie exclaimed as he ran into the smoke cloud he had created, only to find out he no longer heard the coughs of Tobias Daniels on account of him no longer being where he was last seen.

“D, look out!” Neon Girl yelled, but was unable to get Red Beanie’s attention in time.

Tobias took this opportunity to jump up from his in ground shadow pool and strike from behind. He wrapped his arms around Red Beanie’s neck. This usually wasn't his style, but Tobias had never been up against other Conduits before and was desperate at this point. No one was going to take him back to that hellhole.  _ No one. _

Naturally, Red Beanie grabbed Tobias’ arms in order to pry him off his neck. What Tobias didn't expect was to suddenly black out for a second or two once he was touched. Next thing Tobias knew, he was back on his own feet trying not to fall over because of how dizzy he suddenly felt. When he finally saw clear again, he noticed Red Beanie had been experiencing the same thing. This stressed Tobias out more and caused him to back away from the strangers.

“Wh-what the hell was that? What did you do?!”

Before Tobias could get an answer, he heard something like wings flapping behind him. They didn't sound like the wings of a pigeon, which already didn't sit right with Tobias. He turned around, eyes instantly widening when he saw this giant angel like creature staring right back at him.  Almost giving him no time to react, the angel in the sky shot a laser like beam in Tobias’ direct. Luckily he had quickly side stepped, though almost losing his balance again and falling off the dock. 

“That's enough!” Tobias yelled. “Leave me the hell alone!” 

And with that, Tobias took advantage of the light the laser beam was emanating and created a shadow with the angel’s own silhouette. It raised from the ground and faced the original getting ready to attack for itself, until it suddenly faded. The two strangers looked down to see that Tobias was now tipping over like the Tower of Pisa, falling towards the water.  Delsin had sprinted for Tobias, and grabbed his arm to stop him from tipping any further. He quickly pulled Tobias back towards the deck, and on cue, Delsin had blacked out causing Tobias’ unconscious body to land on Delsin’s unconscious body. 

Fetch, who was now free from her previous restraints, walked over to the two Conduits and sighed.

“Oh, great,” she let out sarcastically.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment, validate me. Also, like Tobias so far? Listen to his playlist here: https://playmoss.com/en/noaeri/playlist/babyface


End file.
